Harrogate Town Archives - Page 28 of 29

The 10 years that changed Harrogate Town’s fortunes

From facing relegation to English football’s seventh tier to potentially playing Bolton Wanderers at a 28,000 seater stadium, the last 10 years have proved to be a whirlwind for Harrogate Town.

Years of change at Wetherby Road have seen the club’s current crop of players on the brink of history as they prepare to play at Wembley for a place in the Football League for the first time.

As Town gear up for the biggest game in their 101 year history, the prospect of a place in League Two seems a world away from 2010 when the club faced relegation.

After a dismal campaign, Town faced playing the 2010/11 season in the then Unibond Premier against the likes of Whitby Town and FC United of Manchester.

Simon Weaver took over the club in the 2009/10 season. Picture Credit: Matt Kirkham Harrogate Town

It was the first season in charge for manager Simon Weaver, who will lead the club out at Wembley this weekend, and a restricted budget left Town bottom of the division.

But the club were saved from relegation after Northwich Victoria were demoted instead for failing to pay their debts on time. The reprieve proved to be pivotal as Town underwent a decade of change which could lead them into the EFL.

Irving Weaver, Simon’s father, took ownership in 2011 after chairman Bill Fotherby decided to stop funding the club. But success was not immediate and Town spent the following season in a relegation dogfight again.

CNG Stadium, Wetherby Road, home of Harrogate Town FC.

A few more seasons of mid-table finishes and struggling in the bottom half of the division began to take its toll on supporters.

Jordan Ford, of the Harrogate Town Supports Club, said much of the change at the club came after New Years Day in 2015. A 4-2 defeat away at Guiseley forced Mr Ford and fellow supporters to call for a meeting with the club.

He said:

“We were just not happy with the way things were going and there was not the relationship that is there now with fans.

“A few things were said, but they were very honest and had an open conversation with us.”

Town fans felt the club lacked direction and a question and answer session with management laid all the concerns on the table.

The following season saw the club record its highest ever league position and reach the play-offs, only to be eliminated at the hands of AFC Fylde.

A 3G pitch, new crop of players and a more entertaining style of football followed and, from there, Town began to rewrite the history books.

In 2018, a 3-0 triumph over Brackley Town in front of a 3,000 strong sellout crowd saw the club promoted to the fifth tier for the first time.

Town kept up the momentum and reached the play offs at the first time of asking last season, but were again eliminated by AFC Fylde.

Picture Credit: Matt Kirkham Harrogate Town

Now, the current crop of players are on the brink of writing their own story as Harrogate look to claim a place in the Football League for the first time in their 101-year history.

For Mr Ford, part of the success at the club is down to its transparency and the relationship it now has with its supporters following New Years Day five years ago.

He said:

“The numbers of supporters at the club has increased.

“It is a great time to be involved and to feel as though we have been a part of that journey. The club appreciates what we do.”

Pride for Harrogate Town fans ahead of Wembley

Supporters of Harrogate Town have a sense of pride ahead of the biggest game in the club’s history this Sunday as they look to clinch Football League status.

While fans will be absent from Wembley on match day, Town will have the backing of thousands at home as some watch from their living rooms or in the company of fellow fans at the pub.

For Jordan Ford, of the Harrogate Town Supporters Club, the feeling of watching his team in the final is more one of excitement than nerves.

“I feel more excited than nervous to see my club at Wembley.

“The players have been at the club for many years and it will be a great experience for them to see what their hard work has brought them.”

Promotion to League Two would see a £1 million windfall for Town and hosting the likes of Bradford City and Bolton Wanderers at the CNG Stadium.

Mr Ford, who organises the travel for supporters to away games, said the prospect of travelling to such places with Town is enticing.

He said:

“There’s a lot more northern places in League Two, so there will be interest.

“It would be amazing to play teams like Bradford, and Bolton were in Europe not so long ago.”

However, the road to the Football League would be bittersweet as supporters are absent from Wembley due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The 90,000 seater stadium will be empty as Town play Notts County for a place in the EFL, but Mr Ford said the supporters will still play their part.

He said:

“It’s frustrating but that’s the way it is.

“Notts County fans are in exactly the same position and we want to do what is best.

“This is the situation we are in and we have to make the best of it.”

Town booked their place in the final after a 1-0 win over Boreham Wood last Saturday. After 150 days since a football was kicked at the CNG Stadium, some supporters were anxious about the restart.

Rob Nixon, who has followed Town for the past five years, said the feeling of getting to Wembley was sweeter after the long break.

But he added that it will not be the same without supporters there

He said:

“When we got promoted last time and they did so well, it was quite a crazy situation to be in.

“We have been doing better than before and it is a natural progression. But it’s not not quite the same feeling when we are not there.

“The feeling would be more palpable for us if we were there.”

Where to watch Harrogate’s historic play-off final on Sunday

Harrogate Town will play Notts County at Wembley on Sunday in the National League play off final — but fans will agonisingly miss out on a special day out to the home of English football due to social distancing restrictions.

The club has offered a limited number of fans the chance to watch Sunday’s play-off final with fellow supporters at The CNG Stadium.

If you can’t make it to the ground, below is a list of bars and venues in Harrogate that are showing the game live, which will be broadcast on BT Sport at 3pm.

The Harrogate Arms, Parliament Street (online bookings only)

Bilton Working Men’s Club, Skipton Road (non-members welcome)

Manhatten Snooker Club, Beech Avenue (non-members welcome)

Mojo, Parliament Street (online bookings only)

Prince of Wales, Starbeck High Street

Harlow Hill Sports and Social Club, College Street

Bilton Cricket Club, Bilton Lane

The Woodlands Hotel, Wetherby Road

The following pubs are showing the game but are already fully booked:

The Alexandra, West Park

The Last Post, Cold Bath Road

Did we miss a pub or bar that is showing the game? Email contact@thestrayferret.co.uk to let us know.

From Knaresborough Celtic juniors to Wembley

If Harrogate Town get promoted to the English Football League on Sunday, Jack Emmett will be the toast of the town.

Jack, 26, is the only Harrogate-born player in the squad and has made about 220 appearances.

After unsuccessful trials with Leeds United and Doncaster Rovers – the latter of which said he was too small to make the grade – he didn’t have any great aspirations when he first trained with Town during sixth form at Harrogate Grammar School.

Accountancy was to be his career; football was a hobby. But his life, along with the fortunes of the club, have transformed since then. He told the Stray Ferret:

“Everything was completely different when I joined. The team, the ground, the crowds, the professionalism… we were a bit of a head it, kick it team trying to get out of the Conference North on a grass pitch with a big slope in the corner.

“Every year since then we’ve built on things. It’s incredible really.”

The club’s decision to go fully professional in 2017 was the key moment, said Jack, who started out at Knaresborough Celtic juniors. Town signed several new players and were immediately promoted in 2018 to the National League.

Now they are heading to the most famous stadium in the world for the chance to play in the fourth tier of the English game.

Standing in the way are Notts County, the oldest professional team in the world whose black and white striped kit was copied by Italian giants Juventus.

Ordinarily County would have thousands more fans cheering them on so playing at an empty Wembley could work in Harrogate’s favour, said Jack.

“Most people fancy them to beat us,” he said. “But I like going in as the underdog.”

Midfielder Jack, who has a year left on his contract, was a substitute in the 1-0 play-off defeat of Boreham Wood last weekend. But hot weather and Wembley’s big pitch could see the bench play a big part.

With no fans allowed, his family won’t be there to see it. He said:

“They booked a holiday in Wales so they wouldn’t have been able to make it anyway.”

He also feels for the fans.

“It’s such a shame they can’t be there with us. Hopefully we can win it for them. Having grown up in the town I know how much it would mean to people.”

Harrogate Town to show play-off final on big screen

Harrogate Town has offered a limited number of fans the chance to watch Sunday’s play-off final with fellow supporters at The CNG Stadium.

The club will show the match against Notts County on a 25 square metre TV overlooking the pitch at Wetherby Road.

Tickets are £35 per bubble. Each bubble can consist of up to six people and the tickets must be collected in advance.

Anyone attending needs to wear trainers. People can either bring their own seating or sit on the artificial grass.

One person per bubble will then be able to collect their ticket from the club office from 11am to 3pm tomorrow and Saturday and 11am to 1pm on Sunday.

Alternatively, tickets can be collected from the courtyard outside the Victoria Shopping Centre on Saturday from 10am to 4pm

With coronavirus restrictions in place, fans will not be able to travel to Wembley to watch the game so the screening will be the closest fans will be able to get.

Harrogate Town manager: ‘Promotion can put us on the footballing map’

Harrogate Town manager Simon Weaver has said promotion to the English Football League on Sunday would make Harrogate known for football as well as tea shops.

Town play Notts County at Wembley on Sunday with the winner playing in League Two next season.

Speaking to the Stray Ferret, Weaver said playing in the EFL for the first time in the club’s history would be a major boost to Harrogate.

He said:

“It would put us right on the footballing map. We often get the mickey taken out of us saying we’re a town full of tea shops but hopefully we’ll be known for the brand of football and the style we play and that’s the aim of getting in the football league.

Weaver hailed the “amazing” performance of his team last Saturday for beating a physical Boreham Wood side 1-0 in the play-off semi-final at the CNG Stadium.

After not playing since March, the players looked sharp, which Weaver expects to continue into the final.

He said:

“It was amazing that they put on a show after such a long absence. I couldn’t have been prouder of everyone’s attitude.”

Weaver has managed Town for over 500 games — and it will be a sweet occasion to lead his team out on Sunday at the famous Wembley Stadium, despite Town fans being unable to attend due to social distancing restrictions.

He said:

“I’m sure they will be watching and listening where they can but we’ll have them at the forefront of our minds. It’s painful them not being there but we’ll have to focus our minds on the day and do our best for the supporters and make them proud back home.”

A key strength of Town’s squad over the past few years has been its stability: the majority of the team that won promotion to the National League in 2018 are still present and Weaver said if they do get promoted he won’t be making wholesale changes.

He said:

“Either way we won’t rip up what we’ve got. I think we’ll be very competitive should we be lucky and good enough to win on Sunday.

“We’d be looking at boosting the size of squad so we’d probably need two or three players. Defensively we only have four in the squad right now.”

If the game ends 0-0 on Sunday, Town will be faced with a penalty shootout for the first time since 2012 when they were knocked out of the F.A Cup second round by Hastings.

Fortunately, the squad had a penalties expert on hand to come and give them advice before the Boreham Wood game — England manager and Harrogate local Gareth Southgate.

Weaver said:

“I’ve known him for a few years and thought it might be nice for him to talk about his experiences for 40 or 50 minutes. He’s a really nice guy and talked about how they dealt with penalties in the last England tournament.”

Harrogate Town vs Notts County kicks off at 3pm on Sunday and will be shown live on BT Sport.

Harrogate Town to play outside of Harrogate if they win promotion

Harrogate Town will play the first few home games of next season outside of Harrogate if they gain promotion to the English Football League.

This is because to meet EFL regulations the club must replace its existing artificial 3G pitch at the CNG Stadium with grass.

Town play Notts County at Wembley on Sunday with the winner gaining promotion to the League Two in the EFL. The club said they will begin work on replacing the pitch with grass “immediately” should they win the historic tie.

The work is expected to take 10 weeks, which would take them into next season, with the first matches set for September 12. The club have not revealed who they could potentially ground share with.

Town installed the current 3G pitch in 2016 after struggling for years with drainage issues on the previous grass pitch. It forced them to play several home matches 45 miles away at Doncaster Rovers.

Town fan Rob Nixon told The Stray Ferret that he hopes it would be somewhere closer to home.

He said:

“The more local the better. When we shared with Doncaster we only had 50 people attending. Having to do that again would be tough.”

The club have been busy this summer making preparations in case they are promoted.

Work has almost been completed on a new Family Stand at the CNG so they can meet EFL’s requirement of every stadium being able to hold 5,000 people with 1,000 seats.

Cardboard cut-out versions of Town supporters sat in the stand when the team beat Boreham Wood 1-0 on Saturday to book their place in the final.

Writing in Saturday’s programme, club chairman Irving Weaver said he hopes the new all-seater stand will attract more fans to the club.

Harrogate Town prepares for £1 million game

Harrogate Town is in line for a million-pound windfall if it beats Notts County at Wembley on Sunday and gains promotion to the English Football League.

The football club secured its place in the final after beating Boreham Wood 1-0 on Saturday at the CNG Stadium thanks to a 65th-minute goal from Jack Muldoon.

Town’s history boys will play at Wembley for the first time in the club’s existence — and promotion from the National League could help take the club to the next level financially.

Each League Two club receives £472,000 a season as a “basic award” from the EFL which is their share of the league’s five-year £595m broadcasting deal with Sky Sports.

The Premier League also gives clubs £430,000 as a “solidarity payment” — which is designed to trickle some of the league’s riches down the football pyramid.

Gate receipts are vitally important for lower league clubs and a new Family Stand costing £750,000 is currently being built at the CNG which will take capacity up to 5,000. The club is hoping a ticket prize freeze for next season will help fill it.

However, this could be curtailed by social distancing restrictions that will be in place for at least the first couple of months of the new season, which is rumoured to begin in September.

Town players celebrate after winning their place in the play-off final. Picture: Matt Kirkham Harrogate Town

For the first time in its history, Town would also play in the League Cup, entering in round one, which comes with a minimum bonus of £5,000 even if they get knocked out.

If the club made the draw for the second round, it would be in the hat for potential money-spinning ties with some Premier League clubs — including newly-promoted Leeds United.

Promotion to the EFL does not guarantee a gilded existence and several League Two clubs are in financial peril, with Bury kicked out of the league in 2019 due to financial struggles.

While the financial benefits of promotion are tantalising for Town fans, seeing their club in the EFL for the first time in its 101-year history would be priceless.

‘We’re off to Wembley!’ Harrogate Town win historic play off semi

Jack Muldoon’s 65th-minute goal sent Harrogate Town to Wembley for a historic play off final next Sunday.

Town beat Boreham Wood 1-0 at the CNG Stadium this afternoon in the National League play off semi-final.

Despite not playing in the league since March 7, Town dominated the game and looked the much sharper of the two teams.

In the social distancing era it was a low key experience watching Town’s biggest game in its 101-year history.

Walking up Wetherby Road, there was not the usual congregation of Town fans wearing yellow and black, discussing predictions for the game or excitedly planning which pub they might go to might go after the game.

But Town’s fans were here in spirit — with the supporters club organising a 20ft X 10ft flag covered with fan’s faces. And there were over 100 cardboard cut out ‘crowdies’ sat in Town’s new family stand.

A lot has changed in the world since Town last played and both teams took a knee before kick-off in support of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Town started the game sharply and swarmed the opposition several times in the first twenty minutes.

An impressive attacking move saw on-loan winger Jack Diamond, who was a threat all game, through on goal but his shot was saved comfortably by Boreham Wood goalkeeper Nathan Ashmore.

After 25 minutes, Jack Muldoon drilled a shot low that was pushed wide for a corner.

Lloyd Kerry nearly put Town ahead five minutes later when his shot was again turned wide by Ashmore.

The physically imposing Boreham Wood began to put some pressure on Town towards the end of the first half, with two chances.

After half time, Boreham Wood came out strong and a Keiron Murtagh shot was well saved with his feet by Town keeper James Belshaw.

Boreham Wood almost took the lead when a Matt Rheed header led to desperate scramble before the ball was ultimately cleared off the line.

But it was Jack Muldoon on the 65th minute who sent Town fans watching at home into dreamland when he scored after a corner.

The final whistle sent Town players in ecstacy, cheering and embracing each other in an eerily quiet CNG.

Town players left the field to their makeshift changing rooms in the 1919 bar and could be heard singing “We’re off to Wembley” – almost making up for the lack of supporters.

They will play the winner of Notts County vs Barnet which kicks off later this afternoon.

Biggest game in Harrogate Town’s history today

Harrogate Town is gearing up for the biggest game in the club’s 101-year history.

At 2.30pm today at the CNG Stadium, Town will play Boreham Wood in the National League play-off semi-final. If they win, Town will head to Wembley on August 2 for the chance to play in the English Football League for the first time.

The game today will be a bittersweet occasion for Town supporters who are not allowed into the ground due to social distancing guidelines.

However, fans will be able to watch the game from the comfort of their own home as the game will be broadcast live on BT Sport.

Town finished the season in 2nd place after the league was curtailed due to the coronavirus pandemic and decided on a points-per-game ratio.

Simon Weaver’s men will be hoping to quickly shake off any ring rust as they have not kicked a ball in the league since drawing with Bromley 1-1 on March 7.

Boreham Wood, who finished 5th, beat Halifax Town 2-1 in their first playoff game last week.

This season the Hertfordshire side has the best away record in the league and Town has the second-best home record.

The two teams played to a 0-0 draw at the CNG Stadium in September. In December, Boreham Wood beat Town 2-1 at Meadow Park.

Writing in today’s programme, manager Simon Weaver said he hoped the game will be a day to remember for the fans.

He said:

“Today is a huge game for both sides. We haven’t got the advantage of having our fans with us but we will be making every attempt to get the win that they are hoping for.

“Many will be glued to the television and watching the game live on BT Sport. We owe it to them to give it 100% effort to reach the final”.

The winner of today’s game will play the winner of Notts County vs Barnet on August 2 at Wembley.

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